Glass rubber cover, windshield & rear window (E39)

And use a little lube (dish soap, silicone, KY or whatever) to help get it in place. I used dish soap and it worked fine.

Thanks 99! Marking for inspection of both sides is an excellent idea. I also have the "old" piece still and can see if it lies flat. Any idea what "grabs" the channel to hold the trim in?

FHP.

Sorry, I don't recall what the channel looks like...likely just a metal springy piece that expands but I just don' remember.

First I have to say sorry for bringing up an old thread.....
I have had this problem three times on two of the Bimmers I own, my M5 (2000) and M3 (2004). Both have shown this natural rubber rot problem on the windshield. Now my M Roadster is showing this around the window seals.... so in reality its twice on the 5, once on the 3 and now the Roadster. GRRRR. I have used Gummi Fledge for the last two years, and it helps a lot, but in the end it does not prevent the eventual rot, even on new parts.
Now in fairness, I do live in a high heat area but I do park the cars in my garage so they don't bake in the sun.
Now to the point, replacment of the parts is not that hard nor is it that expensive (if you DIY), just time consuming for the DIYer and a general PIA to have to do it considering what these cars are and cost. It just shouldn't happen in my book. As someone else pointed out 'a POS 1968 car has better rubber!' That's disturbing that another car company makes better seal componet than BMW and it does not rot! Further, I'm disgusted that BMW won't take responsibility for it and repair it AT NO CHARGE to their costumer base, mostly because it IS a faulty material part in the first place. The slap in the face is dealing with BMW.... If you have them do it they charge four times the amount of what the job is worth, I've even had the local dealer tell me they would have to remove the windscreen. Anybody that has DIY on the E39 body knows that is a flat down fib. Don't get me going on the part mark up they charge! Better to buy it from a out source.
OK... I vented, off my soap box.... Has anyone ever had success with BMW, as pointed out in the earlier part of this thread, with getting a positive response. The point that BMW has not had enough complaints on this issue is beyond silly. Yes, I have complained and called and written. If you go to any older 5 series and look at the windscreen, 8 out of 10 will shown this problem. How can BMW ignor that? Even Japanese car companies goodwill parts on car long out of warrenty standing, I know this for a fact! I would certainly expect a high end German company to stand up and good will a $30 faulty part! Audi does, VW does, Mercedes Benz does, so what's up BMW?
Again, if anyone has had success with this issue please share the news as I'm sure it would be helpful to other owners that have this issue. If not, I fear we will be fending out hard earned monies on a worthless part that will fail in the end.

Just did the front moldings/covers (did it dry no soap ) easy as pie just use a shop vac and mineral spirits to clean channel and line up new molding ,I started at top rt corner and then went down side then other side just use the heel of your hand and the top pops right in ! NOW I need to know for SURE if the rear works the same way? ( without removing glass ) problem is I got a small leak in rear window BUT my sunroof broke ,mechanism, so the sunroof is not closing tightly ? so is the leak the sunroof or the rear glass???????

Mark5,
Unfortunately, if you wish to replace the rear seal it is a one piece.... so removal of the window seems to be the norm as far as I understand and can see. I can't say this is true on all models as I have never done the rear seal. Unlike the front 'cover' it is a true seal and by what I can tell by ALLDATA and RealOEM.com it is a wrapped seal that emcompasses the glass. I also recall reading this somewhere in this thread or elsewhere in the forum as I was going to tackle mine as well because my corner seals had gotten brittle. I used Gummi Phledge instead and got them pliable again. It does plauge US E39 owners with the natural rubber rotting. The front is the worst, but the corners in the rear also suffer the rot. Gummi Phledge is a good preventative to the rot if you can get it local. If not you can get it here http://www.1z-usa.com/ , really worth the invest.
Next on the front seal.... I hope you won't run into probs down the line since you used mineral spirt to clean with, it will dissolve the sealent on the winndshield and break it down over the long haul. It may also cause a discoloration or breakdown of the laminate shield within the safety glass. Hopefully you just used it sparingly on a soft rag and wiped up excess quickly. Just giving you a 'possible' heads up and hope nothing will occure. For future I would recommed a little Dawn/water 1 - 10 ratio in a spritz bottle for clean up with soft brush followed by clean water wash. Use a little tire mount cream to install seals and wipe excess. Drys clean and won't damage paint or componet. Next apply fresh wax to area to protect paint finish.
On the leak.... it may be possible that it may be a drain hose from the sunroof casset. Repair is easy, but time consuming. You might notice a water stain on the C pillar, rear seat deck or headliner area that may look like a rear windshield leak if it is in the upper corners. If it runs down the inner windshield glass on to the seat deck, then it might be a glass seal leak indeed. I hope not. You can check this with a friend by SLOWLY running some water on the suspect area(s) while you are on the inside and your friend trickles the water from the outside. If it doesn't show around the glass, then move to the sunroof seal and allow water to flow into the water channels on the side. They are designed to run a SMALL amount of water past the felt seal, so don't flood it or you will get a leak! Remember this is for test purpose so do it slowly. Think like a gentle rain just in case it is not sealing properly. From the inside you should know if it is leaking from the drain hose. It may be possible that the drain cup and hose may be plugged with junk or mold and causeing the channel to flood. This is an easy fix if that is the case with some compressed air. If the hose needs to be replaced.... well that is more timely and will require the removal of the headliner and possible the casset itself to get at the drain cup. The set up is very similar to the E46 body so that should give you an idea of what to expect if you have to do that job.
In the end repairing right is the way to go if you have the coin and the time, but there is the inexpensive way to go as far as a get me by..... Silicon sealent. If you're careful you can do a nice job and it won't look to bad. I do mention this as it is a temporary fix, and I have seen some ugly attemps at doing it this way and in the long run is harder to clean up when you can fix it right.
I hope I helped and gave you some ideas,
Cheers, ABB

i just did mine today, i went to auto glass shop and he was about to start removing the whole glass.
actualy lot of auto glass shops refused to do it judt because they worried of damaging the glass.
thanks to you guys for all the information that you have provided, i explained to the tech person how to do it. at first i was worried if the glass brakes, but it was very easy it took less than 20mns.
they also install for me AC schnitzer spoiler(OEM ofcourse), splash gards front (R,L) all that for $80.
yesterday i installeed M5 mirrors (OEM of course) what a difference, and i installed door handels lights. i will take some pictures soon.
again i just want to say thank you all for sharing your knoowldge with all of us.

I'm embarrassed that my car is less than 5 years old and the seal gives it the appearance of a much older vehicle. My research shows that it will cost around $300 and BMW won't cover it. I sent an email to Leonora.Vlaovich@bmwna.com and received an autoreply that my message was not delivered due to "too many hops". I think I'm going to "arrange a crack to be fixed" in my windshield, which is covered by insurance. That should get me a new seal.

Please read all of the posts on this subject! The seal is not a SEAL. It is not what keeps the rain out. It is, for the most part, decorative. You can do this repair yourself for only the cost of the parts. Front and back on mine took all of 20 minutes! You do not have to pull the windshield!!!

For the crosslinked record, even the E60 apparently suffers from this BMW engineering flaw!

- E60 (2004 - 2010) > Deteriorated Window Trim DIY

I own a 2008 bmw 528i. The rear weatherstripping is almost completely gone. While driving down the road you can literally watch chunks fly off. I have been quoted from $500-$1200 to fix this. Its ridiculous that there are this many people with the same problem.

Today i took a shot and called another glass company and i am getting a new complete rear glass with seal for $275 bc the guy feels sorry for me bc of all the problems i have had.

My 2003 525i winshield weather stripping crumbling away. To add to it my headlamps are glazed over. Makes the car look like crap. What can I do?

Hi Guys,

I have a 2004 BMW 525i (E60) with the same problem as everyone else in SoCal like weather has. So, today I tried replacing the covers on windshield and rear glass. I could remove the rear glass cover fairly easily without any damage. However, for the front glass, I noticed there isn't enough room to remove the cover. So I tried to push a screw driver in the top left corner to remove the cover. And I broke the windshield. I did not push too hard, but still it chipped at that corner and it cracked and the crack ran the entire length of the windshield within 10-15 minutes. The cover is still there and I dont have enough courage to remove it now I am having to replace the whole windshield now. Irvine as well as Crevier BMW quoted the cost of replacement at over $1600. So here I am, trying to be cheap replacing a $20 cover and ending up with the bill of $1600.

Guys, please know what you are trying to do and learn from my BAD experience. Try to do it from a professional. DO NOT END UP LIKE ME PAYING $1600...

- Charan

Update: I had the windshield replaced today. And I watched the guy do it. Even this professional guy could not remove the windshield cover without breaking the glass. So if you have a 2004 BMW 525i (E60) then know that the cover cannot be removed easily without removing the windshield. So donot try it at your own.